[YL] New Issue of the Journal of Youth Development: Bridging Research and Practice Now On-Line

Wed Jul 9 12:55:55 EDT 2008

The latest issue of the Journal of Youth Development: Bridging Research
and Practice, is now available on-line at the following link:
http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/index.html  This issue features the
following articles:   

Examining 4-H Robotics in the Learning of Science,
<http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=f5a34e58-1cd3-4
994-981d-b81fa406cd74>  

Bradley S. Barker, Gwen Nugent, Amy Hampton and Neal Grandgenett 

Youths' natural fascination and identification with robots make them an
ideal teaching and learning platform. Robots would seem to be excellent
hands-on tools to teach science, engineering and technology (SET)
concepts. However, while research supports their use to increase
interest and motivation, the effectiveness of robots to directly teach
science, engineering, and technology concepts is less clear. The purpose
of this study was to measure the effectiveness of a 4-H robotics program
to support the learning of specific SET concepts and to examine related
student attitudes towards science. This study compared the pretest and
posttest scores on an assessment of basic SET concepts and attitudes of
youth who participated in the 4-H robotics intervention with the scores
of youth in a control group. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) results
revealed that youth in the robotics intervention scored better on a SET
concepts posttest. Student attitudes toward science were also
investigated. The results suggested that educational robotics can engage
youth in activities that support their learning of SET topics, but that
it may have more limited impact on general student attitudes towards
science, as measured by the study's attitudinal instrument. 

Community-Based After-School Inclusive Programs
<http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=f6878ad7-d85e-4
f33-8c87-e29119efd0ae>  

Donald G. Unger, Tara Woolfolk, Vanessa Harper and Teresita Cuevas

Intervention for helping community based after-school programs become
more responsive to youth with disabilities and their families is
presented in this manuscript. The Disability Specialist intervention
utilized a variety of approaches, including: a) increasing awareness of
disabilities and services by providing learning opportunity sessions for
families and staff, and outreach activities to youth through interactive
theater; b) developing in house "disability specialists" to offer
ongoing leadership and technical expertise for after-school programs and
their community centers; c) developing a network of technical
consultants in order to connect families and after-school programs to
specialized community resources; d) providing financial assistance to
enable community center staff to allocate time to outreach activities;
and e) providing families with support in educational advocacy efforts
by partnering with a local parent mentoring program. The success of the
project depended upon building partnerships with families, community
centers, human service agencies, schools, and local funding sources.

Lessons from the Front Lines:
<http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=8abd7ee5-af0f-4
c25-876e-43c67545e94d>  

Helena Laroche and Jonathan D. Klein

Motivated, competent Youth Development Workers (YDW's ) are essential to
effective youth outreach programs. This study explores factors affecting
job turnover among Youth Development Workers (YDW's) through detailed
direct observation and interviews of six YDW's in four organizations and
a group interview with eight different YDW's. YDW stressors included few
resources, high need among youth, paperwork, excessive responsibilities,
burnout/cynicism, miscommunication with supervisors, personal financial
strain and lack of job security. Workers identified needs for
appreciation, support from superiors, opportunities to advance,
experienced mentors, resources and role definition. For programs to be
effective and minimize turnover, YDW's require resources, mentorship,
role definition and appreciation.

Collaboration in a Competitive Environment:
<http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=840e5afd-955c-4
3df-8f73-bafb8a007cfd>  

Michael Cuthill, Erica Wilson and Noah Nielsen

This paper reports on the activities, processes and outputs in the first
18 months of a 3 year collaborative project, the Gold Coast Integrated
Response for Youth At Risk. Survey, focus group and interview data were
collected from project participants as part of a formative evaluation.
Results identify both success and ongoing challenges within the project.
Five key findings from the project are presented and discussed. These
relate to issues such as the need for well designed project evaluation,
and negotiating and clearly defining governance processes during the
initial project planning stages. In addition, stakeholder communication
and engagement processes are identified as an area of concern. The
inherent tension of working collaboratively in a competitive (funding)
culture and finding an operational balance between developmental
processes and more tangible project outputs are also discussed.

The After School Activity Initiative: Youth Helping Youth in a Community
in Crisis
<http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=b29e6573-6edd-4
899-8b36-9cb73120c061>  

Brenda J. Robertson

Youth experience considerable free time, the use of which can foster
active healthy lifestyles or facilitate engagement in activities that
are detrimental to self and or to society. In order for the former to
occur, specific knowledge, attitudes, and skills must be acquired. This
research explores an initiative in which older youth served as leaders
in an after school initiative in an economically challenged community
where little attention was being paid to the provision of free time
opportunities for youth. Not only were positive developmental outcomes
experienced by the participants (the ability to find ways to spend free
time; an appreciation for the outcomes that can accrue from engagement
in positive activities; and the ability to communicate effectively), but
the same was true for the older youth who served as leaders
(understanding the meaning of success, appreciating the power of
interpersonal relationships, and becoming a role model).

Youth in Community Decision-Making: A Study of Youth-Adult Partnerships
<http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=07983a11-37b7-4
7f0-8f91-74a218e6df73>  

Shelley Murdock, Carole Paterson and Mary Claire L. Gatmaitan

Involving youth in community and organizational decision-making is
widely believed to lead to stronger communities. A promising strategy to
foster decision-making is youth-adult partnerships in which youth and
adults work collaboratively, sharing their strengths, collective
knowledge, and decision-making power. A qualitative study of eight youth
organizations showed that those organizations employing youth-adult
partnership strategies were most effective in increasing youth's
contributions to their communities. This article explores the elements
of youth-adult partnership that were evident among successful
organizations including: mutual respect, meaningful roles for youth,
unique contributions of adults and youth, and shared decision-making and
implications for youth development programs.

Taking Congress Home: Effects of NC 4-H Congress on Youth Behaviors and
Intentions
<http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=03892b10-5e9e-4
8a4-a988-23cc9c7569e1> 

Benjamin Silliman

This evaluation report describes the outcomes and quality of the 2006
North Carolina 4-H Congress, an annual five-day teen conference focused
on citizenship, leadership, and service. A majority of returning youth
cited Congress experiences as significant in their continued learning
and practice in citizenship, leadership, and service learning. Likewise,
most youth participants in the 2006 conference indicated that they
planned to participate in more citizenship, community leadership, and
service activities in their home communities. A Youth Program Climate
survey revealed that youth viewed NC 4-H Congress as a setting where
service was important, where they learned to accept differences,
teamwork was emphasized, and where they were able to make a difference
in the lives of others. Three implications of the evaluation report are
discussed: 1) value of a youth leadership conference for educating and
inspiring youth in citizenship, leadership, and service; 2) evaluation
methodology, including engaging youth leaders in design and use of
conference data; and 3) marketing and accountability opportunities
resulting from program evaluations.

Youth Competitors Gain Benefits from Horse Show Judges' Training Program
<http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=5921c1d4-a622-4
5fd-80b0-7ff01b37685b>  

Patricia A. Evans, Scott McKendrick, John Wesley and Justen Smith

This article details how youth benefit from a horse show judges'
training program. While judging is subjective, with training, judges can
be more consistent in their placings, with the better horses and/or
riders being placed at the top of the class. With qualified judges,
youth can be more confident that they will be evaluated in a fair and
consistent manner during each show all season long. 

How ScienceQuest Ensures Success for All
<http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=a694f643-0268-4
c01-9cd7-e784192f52c1>  

Judith Zorfass, Jennifer Dorsen and Caitlin Feeley

Informal educational programs that reach out to minority youth in
low-income urban areas need to anticipate diversity. Not only will
participants exhibit a range of abilities and needs, but some, just like
in any population, are likely to have learning disabilities.
ScienceQuest, an informal science education program funded by the
National Science Foundation, was designed to ensure that youth aged 10
to 14 with diverse abilities and needs, including learning disabilities,
can successfully participate and succeed in inquiry-based learning. The
program uses the I-Search curriculum as the basis of its inquiry
process. Embedded in this curriculum are the following inclusive
practices: youth are motivated to explore their topic; they use varied
media that supports their learning styles; they are guided to process
information through multiple means; and they have access to technology
tools. These ongoing inclusive practices ensure that everyone
successfully explores the world around them.

Capturing Youth Voice to Assess Learning in Urban Youth Development
Programs
<http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=a0692c84-4081-4
e8f-bfc5-ff2799fc91a0>  

Jennifer A. Skuza and Jessica P. Russo

This article describes a two-part evaluation method that was designed to
assess the nature of the learning experiences and the learning
environments in urban youth programs by capturing the often absent voice
of youth. It also presents evaluation results after delivering
educational youth programs in an urban setting for one year. While youth
across five program sites indicated their programs had strong program
planning and delivery that provided intentional learning environments,
the most common challenge across programs was a need for improved
participation of both youth and adults. The evaluation findings convey
the perspectives of young people on their experience as learners in
youth programs. Practitioners may use such data in future planning as
they employ strategies to improve the overall quality of their programs.

Development of the OSTRC Conference Evaluation Toolkit
<http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=ac1c0fa7-9186-4
f6a-820a-0b58aab0162e>  

Jennifer Buher-Kane, Nancy Peter and Stefanie Gabel

Research demonstrates that staff quality directly impacts student
achievement in out-of-school time (OST) settings, and that effective
staff development contributes to a skilled workforce. Evaluating OST
professional development is therefore attracting increased attention
from researchers, practitioners, and funding agencies. In the spring of
2004, the Out-of-School Time Resource Center (OSTRC) began searching for
professional development evaluation instruments designed specifically
for the OST field. Since the OSTRC could not locate research-based
surveys for this genre, it implemented a pilot study to create and test
such instruments. These surveys were designed to evaluate professional
conferences, which are critical (but not exclusive) components of OST
professional development opportunities. The overarching goal of this
study was to operationalize the pathway between professional development
conferences and increased student learning. 

Proven Effectiveness of Missouri 4-H Camps in Developing Life Skills in
Youth
<http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=b4b7f991-2ad2-4
9f8-a937-249908aba8e8>  

Michelle D. Klem and Donald J. Nicholson

Camping is generally believed to be a context for positive youth
development. The 4-H Camp environments presumably focus on the
development of life skills including managing and thinking; relating and
caring; giving and working and; living and being. However, the
effectiveness of the Missouri 4-H Camp environments in developing life
skills among campers had never been evaluated in a consistent manner
across the multiple camping programs. In order to evaluate the efficacy
of these camp programs, resident campers within the 10-13 year age range
were surveyed about their camping experience during the summer of 2005
and a similar group was surveyed in 2006. Parents of campers were also
surveyed both years to gather their perceptions of 4-H Camp's impact on
their children in developing the life skill areas identified above.
Parents and youth agreed strongly that the 4-H Camp experience was
substantially valuable in developing the life skills identified in the
Targeting Life Skills Model (Hendricks, 1998). 

Common Courtesies: Teaching Young People American Etiquette Through 4-H
<http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=8b052d3a-abc0-4
66e-9e4b-2c6039b74433>  

Kelley A. McCord and Jan Scholl

The new youth resource guide, "Common Courtesies and First Impressions:
A 4-H Life Skills Activity Guide to Modern American Etiquette," is
designed to help teenagers understand the significance and positive
impact of using proper etiquette in today's society. Though designed
with 4-H members in mind, the guide employs the social theory of
learning by emphasizing learning in a social setting with a group of
one's peers. It could be employed easily in any youth group setting,
including Campfire, Boy & Girl Scouts, or Parks & Rec. It will help to
build positive social skills by providing answers to such questions as
how to behave and react in social situations. 

Regards,

Suzanne Le Menestrel

Suzanne Le Menestrel, Ph.D.

National Program Leader, Youth Development Research

National 4-H Headquarters

Families, 4-H, and Nutrition

Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, USDA

202-720-2297

202-720-9366 (fax)

slemenestrel at csrees.usda.gov

http://www.csrees.usda.gov

http://www.national4-hheadquarters.gov/

Regular Mail:

1400 Independence Avenue, SW

Mail Stop 2225

Washington, DC 20250-2225

Courier/Deliveries:

Waterfront Centre

800 9th Street, SW

Room 4423

Washington, DC 20024 <http://www.reeusda.gov> 

CSREES' mission is to advance knowledge for agriculture, the
environment, human health and well-being, and communities.

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